Page:Letters from New Zealand (Harper).djvu/322

290 was owned by Priscilla and Aquila, and had passed into the possession of Cornelius Pudens. Pudens had two daughters, Pudentiana and Prassede. In the catacomb of Priscilla, on the Via Salaria, Pudens, Pudentiana, Prassede, and Priscilla were buried.

The church of Pudentiana, which is one of the oldest in Rome, has always been held to be on the site of the house occupied by Pudens. In 1870 excavations revealed the house itself. Not far off there is also the church of S. Prassede, containing very old mosaics, standing on the remains of an oratory dating as far back as 160 A.D. These oratories were the "houses of prayer" mentioned in the New Testament.

The church of San Clemente is another link with Early Christian days. Clemens, St. Paul's fellow labourer, of noble Roman family, is said to have built an oratory in his own house. The present church does not date back further than the twelfth century, but beneath it are two other very old churches, one of which is in fair preservation. On its walls there is a quaint fresco of Our Lord's descent into Hades, from which He rescues Adam. Eve's hand is seen on Adam's ankle, as if trying to detain him. The lower church is only partly visible, being half full of water; its walls are partly formed of the old city wall of Servius Tullius. It is supposed to be Clement's oratory. In the upper church, now in use, under the high altar, lie the remains of St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who was done to death by lions in the Colosseum, in the reign of Trajan. This takes us back to the year 98 A.D.

. Some more notes by the way. We went by train to Reggio in Calabria, a mountainous country, but in many parts full of luxurious vegetation, oranges,